LAYTON, Utah (ABC 4 News) – A couple in Layton have a lot to be thankful for. It's been two days since the husband's best friend, his dog, sprang into action and saved his wife in a fire.
“He was so smart,” said Ron Barningham.
Barningham's wife was alone at their Layton home napping Wednesday when 13 year-old Jake the dog woke her up, jumping on the bed.
“She said by the time she got up and ran to the door the room had filled with smoke,” he said. “She was going to try to pick him up but she just couldn't pick him up.”
So his wife jumped out a second story window, but couldn't get Jake out. “I’m sure he succumbed to the smoke immediately,” he said.
Investigators said the fire could have ended differently had there been working smoke detectors in the home which there were not.
“We were in the middle of a remodel and we had a smoke detector downstairs, but the one upstairs we had just finished painting the hall and the smoke detector was actually sitting in the closet,” said Barngingham.
His wife was too shaken up to speak to ABC4, but both say without smoke detectors they know how lucky they were to have a dog like Jake.
“Thank God my wife is still alive and all I can say is if I didn't have Jake I would be burying my wife today,” said Barningham.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Many city's like Layton offer free battery-operated smoke detectors. Some fire departments will even install them for you. For more information on Layton’s program, call 801-336-3940.
